Serie A | Roma 4-1 Lecce: Ranieri can celebrate first victory | OneFootball

Claudio Ranieri finally got his first win of this Roma stint, beating Lecce 4-1 with Alexis Saelemaekers, Gianluca Mancini, Nicolò Pisilli and Manu Koné on target.

The Giallorossi were coming off four consecutive Serie A defeats, two of them under Ranieri along with the thrilling 2-2 Europa League draw at Tottenham. Artem Dovbyk and Bryan Cristante were out of action, so Stephan El Shaarawy moved into attack with Paulo Dybala and Saelemaekers. Lecce were still unbeaten under new coach Marco Giampaolo, fresh from a draw with Juventus, but Antonino Gallo, Lameck Banda, Balthazar Pierret, Nicola Sansone, Kevin Bonifazi, Filip Marchwinski and Jeppe Corfitzen did not make the trip.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Dybala almost scored at the fifth minute with a looping header that Wladimiro Falcone misjudged, having to flap it off the line and onto the upright.

Saelemaekers had his first start since a fracture in September and broke the deadlock when he got on the end of a disguised Stephan El Shaarawy slide-rule pass and managed to steer it around Gaby Jean to dribble into an empty net from a difficult angle.

Zeki Celik limped off with an injury after just 24 minutes and Roma kept pushing, as Saelemaekers saw his effort deflected wide and on the resulting corner Dybala redirected an Evan N’Dicka header, forcing Nikola Krstovic into a desperate goal-line clearance.

Moments later, Lecce received a penalty when substitute Saud Abdulhamid clumsily crashed into Lassana Coulibaly on the Ante Rebic assist. Krstovic converted firing into the top corner to equalise with the first spot-kick awarded to the Salentini this season.

Saelemaekers hesitated on a Dybala pass and allowed Gaby Jean to charge down his scuffed finish, then after the restart was denied by Falcone one-on-one when sent through by Leandro Paredes.

Dybala’s angled drive flashed wide and Nicolò Pisilli off the bench saw his effort parried by Falcone’s legs, but Roma restored their advantage when Gianluca Mancini with a diving header managed to reach El Shaarawy’s cross before Federico Baschirotto from 10 yards.

ROME, ITALY – DECEMBER 07: Gianluca Mancini of AS Roma scores his team’s second goal during the Serie A match between AS Roma and Lecce at Stadio Olimpico on December 07, 2024 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)

The Giallorossi added a third when Patrick Dorgu gave it away to spark the counter, Abdulhamid making up for the penalty error by pulling back for Pisilli to sweep first-time into the bottom corner from 12 yards with his right foot.

Mats Hummels made two excellent sliding tackles on Mohamed Kaba and Krstovic, while El Shaarawy blasted just over after a corner.

Roma made it 4-1 late on when Kialonda Gaspar slipped and seemed to very badly sprain his right knee, as Pisilli laid it off for Manu Kone to cut inside and drill home from inside the area. Gaspar had to be stretchered off and that could be the season over for him.

Medon Berisha still nearly made it 4-2 in stoppages with a screamer that smacked against the upright.

It was the first victory for Ranieri in this third different stint on the Roma bench, which was also his 100th career game as their coach.

Roma 4-1 Lecce

Saelemaekers 13 (R), Krstovic pen 40 (L), Mancini 59 (R), Pisilli 66 (R), Koné 86 (R)